Digging Deep: The Summer Regimen That Fuels College Volleyball Players' Success

As spring turns to summer, college life changes pretty quickly. NARPs, or what athletes jokingly call “non athletic regular people,” are thinking about summer jobs, vacations, internships, and having a little more freedom. For college volleyball players, summer looks a little different. Preseason comes fast, and what you do during those months matters.

Summer is also one of those times when coaches learn a lot about their athletes without actually being around them every day. Depending on the division, school, and time of year, there are rules around required athletic activities and coach involvement. There are going to be stretches where nobody is standing over you making sure you get your workout done. You have to be disciplined enough to do it anyway.

College volleyball players need to train strength, power, speed, agility, conditioning, mobility, and explosiveness throughout the summer. That can include lifting, plyometrics, sprint work, change of direction, jump training, HIIT, jump rope, volleyball skill work, and other conditioning.

One thing I don't love is when volleyball players spend the summer doing a ton of distance running. Volleyball isn't a distance sport. It's an explosive sport. You're jumping, accelerating, stopping, changing direction, transitioning, and then doing it all over again. Conditioning matters, but it should make sense for what you're actually being asked to do on the court.

The same goes for jump training. More jumps don't automatically equal a higher vertical. Volleyball players already put a lot of stress on their knees, ankles, hips, and backs through jumping. Plyometrics are great when they're programmed correctly, but quality matters more than piling up reps. Get stronger, become more explosive, learn to land and decelerate correctly, and give your body enough time to recover.

And please don't spend seven days a week beating your body into the ground and call that discipline. Recovery matters. Sleep matters. Nutrition and hydration matter. Rest days matter. The goal isn't to show up for preseason exhausted and beat up because you spent the entire summer trying to prove how hard you can work. The goal is to show up strong, conditioned, explosive, healthy, and ready to compete.

As a coach, when a player is disciplined all summer, it tells me a lot about them. It tells me they can work without somebody constantly holding them accountable. They understand that getting better comes from consistently putting in the work, not panicking three weeks before preseason and trying to make up for everything they didn't do in June.

I also don't expect athletes to give up their entire summer. Go home. See your family and friends. Take a vacation. Have fun. College athletics is demanding, and having some time away is healthy. But there's a difference between balance and excuses. If playing college volleyball is important to you, your habits should show it.

Your first priority should be following the summer program your college strength and conditioning staff gives you. Don't throw that program away because you found a harder workout on TikTok or Instagram. Harder doesn't always mean better, and doing more doesn't always mean you're accomplishing more. Your training needs to prepare you for volleyball, not just leave you exhausted.

There are also some good resources athletes can use for additional training ideas. Reid's Workouts has volleyball specific strength, vertical jump, and plyometric content. Reid Hall does a good job of emphasizing structured training instead of throwing together random jump exercises. Phoenix Nation Fitness also has HIIT and jump rope workouts on YouTube that can be useful, especially when you don't have access to a full gym.

The Art of Coaching Volleyball is another resource I recommend. Don't let the name fool you because it isn't only for coaches. There's a ton of volleyball training and instructional content athletes can learn from as well. Championship Productions also has a large library of volleyball instruction from college and professional coaches.

The biggest thing with online workouts is knowing the difference between supplemental training and just adding more because you think more is better. If your strength coach already has you lifting, jumping, sprinting, and conditioning, you probably don't need to throw three more workouts on top of it. Use your resources, but train smart.

Summer development also can't stop with your body.

I encourage athletes to spend some of their summer developing their mental toughness and leadership. Read. Listen to podcasts. Watch leadership content. Take advantage of webinars and other resources. We spend an incredible amount of time training athletes physically and then sometimes act surprised when they struggle with the mental side of competition.

Mental toughness isn't pretending nothing bothers you. It's learning how to respond when something does.

How quickly can you move on after making an error? Can you stay engaged when you're frustrated? Can you take coaching without immediately getting defensive? Can you communicate when the match gets tense? Can you stay confident after getting blocked twice? Can you still be a good teammate when you're not starting? Can you lead when you're tired, irritated, or having a terrible day?

That's mental toughness.

College teams need athletes who can communicate, handle conflict, take accountability, serve their teammates, and positively impact the culture whether they have a captain's title or not. Leadership isn't a title. It's how you consistently show up and influence the people around you.

Some of my favorite leadership content comes from Jon Gordon, Tony Dungy, and John C. Maxwell. Their books, podcasts, and other content cover leadership, culture, adversity, teamwork, character, and what it actually takes to consistently perform at a high level.

For Christian athletes, Ken Burke's Competing for Christ Podcast is another resource I recommend. It brings faith and athletics together and challenges athletes to think about what it looks like to compete at a high level without allowing their sport to become more important than their relationship with Christ.

And that's another piece of summer development I don't think we should ignore.

If you're a Christian athlete, don't spend the entire summer working on your body and your game while neglecting your faith.

It doesn't have to be complicated. Read Scripture. Follow a Bible plan. Pray. Journal. Listen to a Christian podcast while you're driving or working out. Go to church when you're home. Stay involved with FCA or find another Christian community. You don't need some elaborate spiritual training program. You need consistency and intentional time with God.

Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV) says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

College athletes deal with pressure from every direction. They're trying to perform, compete for playing time, succeed academically, maintain relationships, meet expectations, and figure out who they are outside of their sport. Prayer doesn't make all of that disappear, but it gives you somewhere to take it.

One resource I recommend is The Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz. It takes listeners through the Bible over the course of 365 episodes with Scripture, prayer, and commentary. There are plenty of other Bible plans, devotionals, podcasts, and resources available too. Find something that gets you consistently into God's Word and stick with it.

Christian community matters too. Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV) says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.”

Summer can pull athletes away from their normal campus ministries, FCA groups, teammates, and churches. Don't let that become an excuse to completely disconnect spiritually for three months. Find people who will encourage you, challenge you, pray with you, and hold you accountable.

Most importantly, remember that volleyball is something you do. It isn't who you are.

Your worth can't rise and fall with your stat line. Your identity can't depend on whether you're starting. Your purpose doesn't disappear because you're injured. Your value isn't determined by a depth chart, scholarship, postseason award, or your coach's opinion.

For Christian athletes, your identity has to be rooted deeper than volleyball.

That's why I believe summer development needs to involve the whole athlete. Get stronger. Get faster. Become more explosive. Improve your conditioning. Take care of your body. Learn how to handle pressure and adversity. Become a better teammate and leader. Spend time with God and continue growing in your faith.

Summer isn't the time to shut everything down and then hope you can flip a switch when preseason starts. It's also not the time to obsess over volleyball every waking hour. There's a balance, and mature athletes learn how to find it.

Nobody is handing out trophies because you got your lift in on a random Tuesday morning in June. Nobody is cheering because you finished your conditioning when your teammates are hundreds of miles away. Most of the work you do during the summer isn't going to get noticed.

Do it anyway.

The work you put in over the summer doesn't guarantee you'll start. It doesn't guarantee you'll win a championship or stay completely healthy. Sports don't give us those guarantees. But you can walk into preseason knowing you prepared yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually for whatever the season brings.

Fall has a way of showing what you did with your summer.